Lee was not Sherman, there would have been a brief occupation but no burning, like Atlanta. Urban warfare was rare back then. Looking back nothing was going to make the Goon come to the table and the South did not have the strength to hold any Northern territories. Mr Lincoln’s War would have no negotiated ending. The butchery would continue, actually it picked up speed after G-burg.
Hood burned Atlanta before Sherman occupied it.
Lee’s men robbed and terrorized cities on their way to Gettysburg. Lee’s men torched and burned Richmond as they withdrew before they withdrew, and slashed the fire hoses.
Yet you assert that they would have respected Washington, in a way that they did not respect Richmond.
I call that delusional to the extent it is not false.